John Elway, John Fox say Brady Quinn could be Broncos’ starter

With so much talk in Denver this offseason about whether Tim Tebow or Kyle Orton will be the Broncos’ starter, a third contender has been largely overlooked: Brady Quinn.

Chris Mortensen said on ESPN Radio this morning that Broncos front office boss John Elway and head coach John Fox have both told him that Quinn has a real chance of earning the starting job in Denver.

“I can tell you unequivocally that if you talk to John Elway and John Fox,” Mortensen said, “they will tell you emphatically that Brady Quinn is absolutely in the mix in terms of the competition for the starting job. They are not handing it to Tim Tebow. They are not handing it to Kyle Orton. They may have a depth chart to start out, but I know in communicating and speaking to both men that Brady Quinn is not forgotten.”

Everyone seems to agree that Tebow is the favorite, and it’s more likely than not that Orton will be traded once the lockout ends. But the quarterback situation in Denver is still up in the air, and every quarterback on the roster is still in the mix.

This is nothing but trying to pump up his value for a possible trade, but nobody is that stupid. They will wait until the Broncos cut him if anybody wants him at all. There is enough film on him from his play (if you can call it that) in Cleveland and his horrible pre-season last year that everybody has pretty much seen what he can do (which is not a lot) and what he cannot do (which is a lot) and it would be fair to say that fewer than 10 teams and probably fewer than 5 teams are interested in his services. It would also be fair to say that fewer than 2 teams would be willing to trade anything to acquire him.

(I’m from Cleveland and I apologize if I sound a little disguested at Quinn for not being the player he could have been. )

Is this the same Brady Quinn that could not beat out Derek Anderson in Cleveland? Trust me Broncos fans, you are a lot better off with Kyle Orton as your starter than Quinn. They called him the Checkdown Kid in Cleveland for a reason. I am not a big fan of Tim Tebow as a pro QB either but you might as well see what you have in him.

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(I’m from Cleveland and I apologize if I sound a little disguested at Quinn for not being the player he could have been. )

No, Brady Quinn (at Cleveland) was exactly the player he was – lots of hype but weak against quality college opponents. He wasn’t the worst prospect to ever not become what fans wanted. But he projected out to be a journeyman QB from Day 1.

Despite the hype.

This year’s over-hyped, probably mediocre-to-bust crowd include Locker (OMG, he’s horrible, how did he get drafted before Round 6), Kaepernick (failed against even decent WAC teams), Mallet (will probably be Carson Palmer guy – erratic, but serviceable) and Gabbert who failed against good college teams, you think he’s going to magically succeed against much better NFL teams? Sorry, he’s not the next Tom Brady, rather the next Matt Leinhart — an under-productive QB hidden by the people around him…

Brady Quinn will NEVER be an NFL QB. He doesn’t have the arm strength to get a the 10 yd out pass in this league. Corners will take it to the house all the time.

Now I am not sure Tebow can be an NFL QB either, in fact I would bet against it but they need to give him every opportunity to get better. Take a page out of what the Packers did with Rodgers. Keep Orton starting at least another year and only keep Tebow as the back up so he can get as many reps in practice as he can. Rodgers ran the scout team and was the backup for 2 years. Big part of why he got so good waiting. Lets see if Tebow really is the hard worker he says he is. If he is and proves me wrong great for Denver. If not than at least they gave it the best try they could and can draft Rivers brother out of LSU by than.

i have nothing against Browns fans but what weapons did Quinn really have around him in cleveland? I mean seriously? They had a terrible coach and nothing on offense so that means Quinn sucks? Tebow is a bust all the way, he’s another troy smith, i think if Denver is serious Quinn will work out fine and if not trade him to the Bills as we could use a good young QB

When Quinn was in Cleveland, I thought he could be the man for a long time. Anderson was terrible, so he had to be better by the process of elimination. Now I realize that his draft day fall was justified and 31 other teams knew what the Browns did not. Trading up to get him gave Dallas a windfall and Cleveland took a guy that was truly inept. Captain Checkdown was never good enough for the NFL, he was just good enough for Cleveland to continue their misery. Finding someone dumb enough to take him off their hands, was indeed good fortune for the Browns and signalled their ability to turn their fortunes around.

I think the Broncos are trying to get trade at lest one qb and acquire some defensive talent or some draft picks. If Elway and the front office are fond of Tebow they are playing a great hand of poker by exploring their options. It is a good idea for Fox and his staff to take a look at all 3 and see what he has but the lockout may very well prevent him from being able to do that.

“Chris Mortensen said on ESPN Radio this morning that Broncos front office boss John Elway and head coach John Fox have both told him that Quinn has a real chance of earning the starting job in Denver.”
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Is this the same ESPN that had the “inside word” that Washington Redskins was looking to trade up for Blaine Gabbert on the eve of the draft? Even claiming that the Redskins was looking to trade up as high as the number two position on the draftboard to get him. Well, we saw what happened when Blaine fell into the Redskin’s lap. Those “Gurus” and so call “Experts” at ESPN/NFLN are still desparately spinning that outcome.

Anyway, I’ll wait until the final QB decision is made in Denver. There is nothing wrong with being surprised.

SMDH…ESPN use to be the TMZ of sports but is slowly becoming The National Enquirer’s little brother on every level.

dirtyharry1971 says:
May 13, 2011 10:27 AM
i have nothing against Browns fans but what weapons did Quinn really have around him in cleveland? I mean seriously? They had a terrible coach and nothing on offense so that means Quinn sucks? Tebow is a bust all the way, he’s another troy smith, i think if Denver is serious Quinn will work out fine and if not trade him to the Bills as we could use a good young QB

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Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards were serviceable weapons when Quinn had a legit opportunity to be the starter. Quinn was not able to throw accurate passes unless they were 3 yard check downs on 3rd down. Everyone wanted him to succeed, but he’s just not good.

Denver’s playing “Pass The Trash” talking up Quinn for trade purposes.

Maybe they’ll trade Quinn to the Texans for Leinart. That way, both teams come out about the same with a new (to them) young QB that’s not going to win games & might someday become a serviceable backup QB.

This is another attempt by Elway to remain the man in Denver. The guy’s a super star and wants to remain one.
If Denver ever had another super star at QB Elway’s would fad away and the old man needs the attention.

To be fair, the question was asked at happy hour last Friday. You can’t hold a man to what he says when he’s hammered. And you’d have to be hammered to MEAN that Brady Quinn could be your starter. I think they’re just being judicious with their words. Non story here. Move along. Nothing to see.

That’s the problem with QBs who were overhyped just because they played at a big school. Most of their “success” was due to being surrounded by amazing talent compared to their competition and/or being in a gimmick offense designed to put up gawdy numbers. The expectations are so high, and yet they play as they should, terribly.

Take a look at the Heisman Trophy QB winners in the last 20 or so years. They almost all flopped big time in the NFL.